Ove Johansson

Ove Johansson, tenorsax, composer, had since the end of the fifties been leading his own groups and been a driving force of the Swedish jazz scene, he was also musical director of Mwendo Dawa. Although he has been very active on the Swedish jazz scene since several years his most rewarding efforts has been with Mwendo Dawa.

Ove Johansson's musical work stretches all the way from straight ahead, free form and electronic jazz to the acoustic and electro acoustical mix of today. With Mwendo Dawa he has been able to present his music throughout the world- both in Europe, North and South America and China, and he has produced 35 albums with his own material and with the group. The last CD with the group Mwendo Dawa Music was released 2012.

The style of Ove Johansson has always been very personal with a powerful and intense performance and a rare sound and technique. Contrary to a lot of other players, he has not got caught in the style he began to play in, but has during the years all the time been renewing his own playing and musical expression as well as Mwendo Dawa's. He was always in the frontline according to new music.

Ove Johanssons' second solo CD In a different world, received a lot of attention in USA and Canada and was elected in beginning of 1998 to CD of the week of Jazz Review, USA. His third solo CD came August 2002 with the title Logic Steps (LJRecords. The CD Music from Steninge was released Jan 2005 and Coast 2010. Ove Johansson's Solo CD In a different world (produced 1997) JAZZREVIEW, USA said ”The sound of a musician creating new sounds new rhythms and new deep soul piercing notes is very refreshing for a Jazz fanatic. Improvi- sational Jazz at its very best”.

He was also playing together with his partner piano player Susanna Lindeborg in a duo called Lindeborg/Johansson Duo. Four CD releases - the latest one Thoughtful World. The past few years Ove has also been touring with the trio Natural Artefacts with performances both in the world of improvisation music as well as the world of electro acoustic music. Natural Artefacts has performed in places like Paris, Primavera en la Habana, Cuba, ICMC 2002, CNMAT, Berkeley University, California, Sonic cirquit X festival i Berklee, Boston, emf New York, Stanford University.

Ove Johansson started playing the tenor saxophone at the age of 13, giving the clarinet a chance for a couple of years. He got into a jazz group playing professionally very early. He very early started his own groups and has most of the time been a band leader. For a short period he was sideman of Lars Gullin, Swedish saxophone player. 1972 -1994 he was teacher of saxophone, improvisation, ensemble and harmony at the School of Music, Gothenburg University. Started his own small record label LJ Records 1989 presenting his own and new Scandinavian jazz music internationally, until now 59 titles. Has been awarded several art grants over the years.

Just a couple of months before his death he released a CDbox with saxophone solo and electronics Tenorsaxophone Solo 7 CD.

Gear

Selmer tenor sax Mark 6 AKAI EWI MacBook Pro

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Tags

Ove Johansson saxophone, tenor

Album Review

Time Sign by Matthew Wuethrich
Time Sign by Joshua Weiner

There are few white saxophone players that has such a black feeling like Ove Johansson. NYE TAKTER, NORWAY.

Ove Johansson's tenor playing has a force and intensy that is rare in Swedish jazz. HALLANDSPOSTEN, SWEDEN.

The tenor player Ove Johansson is a very powerful and inventive saxplayer, who all the time strives to really improvise. JAZZPODIUM, GERMANY.

When Ove Johansson blew his horn, the audience was faced with an intense, adrinalized artist of wall-moving power. EDMONTON JOURNAL, CANADA.

About Coast: The complexity of the weave between real and synthetic saxes lays out a beautiful soundscape to correlate with the seascape, leaving the mind aglow

There are few white saxophone players that has such a black feeling like Ove Johansson. NYE TAKTER, NORWAY.

Ove Johansson's tenor playing has a force and intensy that is rare in Swedish jazz. HALLANDSPOSTEN, SWEDEN.

The tenor player Ove Johansson is a very powerful and inventive saxplayer, who all the time strives to really improvise. JAZZPODIUM, GERMANY.

When Ove Johansson blew his horn, the audience was faced with an intense, adrinalized artist of wall-moving power. EDMONTON JOURNAL, CANADA.

About Coast: The complexity of the weave between real and synthetic saxes lays out a beautiful soundscape to correlate with the seascape, leaving the mind aglow. This is a work that evolves just as nature does, starting out quiet and simple, with wrinkles of difference and mutation, moving towards a sound environment that denotes havoc and imbalance often enough, but ultimately achieves a homeostasis in which even the turmoil is beautiful in contextual retrospect.

Gordon Marshall, NewYorkCity Jazzrecord

About Music from Steninge: There´s a helpful pointer to Steninge. If this is the kind of stuff that passas there with any regularity, it should be an essential destination. Brian Morton , The Wire, UK

About Lindeborg/Johansson Duo Thoughtful World: The best is when Lindeborg and Johansson as LJ Duo on Thoughtful World plays together and the best from the two solo worlds melts together in an inspiring jazz ensemble. The two are really close together, where they from the wide terrain in the electronic laptops with the duo ensemble all the time leed to new paths and roundabouts. And you can find it all, as in the title piece ballad like impressionism to quiet tenderness. Frithjof Strauß, Jazz Podium

About Susanna Lindeborg´s Mwendo Dawa A taste of four free minds: Keyboard innovator Susanna Lindeborg and tenor saxophonist/EWI player Ove Johansson have presented Sweden’s answer to Weather Report with their daring electro-acoustic quartet Mwendo Dawa. Here they step further into the avant-garde realm than ever before. Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes

About Susanna Lindeborg´s Mwendo Dawa Mwendo Dawa Music: Mwendo Dawa offer exemplary collective and accessible improvisations by four highly creative musicians. Eyal Hareuveni, AllAboutJazz, USA

To experiment: a trip full of surprises that has something for every listener! Jérôme Partage, JazzHot, France

Mwendo Dawa Music goes in similar ways as the previous album 2008 showed in A Taste of four free Minds, which made a great impact on me. Jazzrytmit, Finland

Mwendo Dawa are making some of the most invigorating music around today. Michael Tucker, JazzJournal, UK

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